Four Young Explorers; Or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics by Oliver Optic (best romantic novels to read .TXT) 📗

the Dyaks at home now, young gentlemen; how do you like the looks of them?" asked the guest, after the meal had been disposed of.

"I think they are the pleasantest savages I have ever met," replied Louis.

"I am afraid you did not appreciate the young women who were so attentive to you, Mr. Belgrave," continued the agent.

"Regarding them as uncivilized maidens, they are about the best specimens. The expression on their faces was pleasant, a few of them were pretty, though as a whole they were not handsome, and they seemed to be kind-hearted. I could not admire them, though their eyes were as brilliant as they were black. Their long hair would be the envy of many an English or American belle."

"The women are very vain of their hair. They[88] bestow a great deal of attention upon it," added Mr. Eng. "The fever of the island sometimes deprives them of their hair, as it may in your country, and that is the greatest calamity that can overtake the younger women."

"I suppose it all right here; but they disfigure and spoil one of the principal attractions of ladies in enlightened nations, the teeth, which they blacken by chewing betel."

"It also makes their lips look as though they had daubed them with blood or red paint; but they do it here, as in India, to make themselves more beautiful. Tastes differ, and the practice makes them ugly to you. The betel-vine grows here, and the leaves are used for chewing. The nut of a certain palm produces the same effect on the teeth."

"I don't admire the brass rings they wear on their waists and around their necks. If I were old enough to get married, I should not look for a wife among the Dyak girls," said Louis, laughing and shaking his head.

"The Dyak women are generally well treated; but they have to work very hard, and much that you would think the men ought to do is done by them. The lords of creation here are inclined to be lazy, while their wives and daughters are engaged in the rice-fields, though their husbands and brothers are driven to labor.

"But the women are not the abject slaves you sometimes find them in the savage state. They have[89] their influence, and exercise a degree of control in household matters. The females are fond of fish, and insist that their husbands shall supply them with this diet. On account of the bores which sweep up the rivers, this is often a dangerous occupation, and the men are unable to procure any fish. Instances are known in which the women bar the door of the house against them if they are unsuccessful."

"I believe the Malays are generally Mohammedans. What is the religion of the Dyaks?" inquired Louis.

"It has been said by some travellers that they have no religion of any kind; but I don't think this is quite true, though it is not far from it," replied Mr. Eng. "Religion is a very indefinite idea among the Dyaks, and they are chary in speaking of what there is of it. Some who have been among them maintain that they believe in a Supreme Being, who has a great many different names among the various tribes. They have almost as many inferior deities as the Hindus.

"They are very superstitious; and there are all sorts of omens, among which there is a particular bird which has obtained the name of the omen bird. His cry on the right of, or behind, a person engaged in any enterprise is an unlucky sign, and he abandons his object; while the cry heard on the left is a favorable omen, and the individual is duly encouraged to go forward.

"I had a story from a Kyan head man which had come down to him as a tradition. A great head-hunting[90] expedition, consisting of a thousand warriors, had set out many years ago. It had not gone far when a little muntjac, which you know is a kind of deer, ran across the path of the warriors. This was a bad omen; and they gave up the enterprise, and returned to their villages.

"I know of a couple just married who separated because they heard a deer-cry within three days after their union, which was a sign that one of them would die within a year. Even little insects intimidate doughty warriors, or assure them that they are far from danger, by their appearance or their cry."

"There is not a little of similar superstition in enlightened nations, though there is vastly less of it than formerly," added Louis.

"I have heard my grandfather say that the ticking of a death-watch used to scare him so that he could not sleep when he was a boy," said Morris.

"What is a death-watch?" asked Scott.

"It is a kind of beetle that conceals itself in the walls of old houses," replied Louis. "The noise it makes is really the call of the bug for his mate, and is the cry of love instead of death, as many ignorant people believe. The breaking of a looking-glass is also a sign of death in the family."

"Mrs. Blossom wouldn't break a looking-glass for a fortune," added Felix. "She says she broke one nine years before her husband died, and therefore it was a sure sign."

"But the death must come within a year to make[91] the sign hold good," replied Louis. "But if enlightened people have faith in such stuff, it is no wonder that Dyaks believe in omens. I want to ask, Mr. Eng, if these Dyaks are regularly married?"

"They are, though with very little ceremony, and no vows, oaths, nor promises. In fact, the marriage consists of such rites as the parties please, and often with no rites at all. Sometimes the betrothed are married by exchanging bracelets in public, or by eating a meal of rice together. In some communities the affianced are seated on a couple of bars of iron, and the head man shakes a couple of live chickens over their heads, invoking many blessings upon them, and the birds are afterwards killed and eaten."

"Do these people drink liquor, or have they anything in the shape of intoxicating fluids?" asked Scott.

"The national drink of Borneo is tuak, about the vilest tipple that ever was invented. I went to a Dyak feast when I first came to the island, which proved to be nothing but a series of drunken orgies. The principal actors at the feast were a number of pretty girls, such as you saw this afternoon. Their office was to induce the men present to drink this vile liquid till they dropped on the floor of the open platform; and they even poured it down the throats of their victims when no longer able to drink for themselves."

"What sort of rum is it?" inquired Scott.

"It looks like the milk of the cocoanut, and I sup[92]pose that it is made from that; but I did not taste it," replied the agent. "It is about my bedtime, and I think I will go to my sampan and retire."

But Captain Scott invited him to sleep on board of the Blanchita; and he accepted after a little pressing, evidently believing that the soft cushions of the yacht made a better bed than the mats of the sampan. Felipe was instructed to have steam on at daylight, and the anchor watch was to call him in season to do so. Fully protected by their nettings from the mosquitoes, which had troubled them to some extent in the evening, all hands slept like tired boys.

When the steam from the gauge-cocks hissed as the engineer examined into the condition of the water in the boiler, the sound waked the captain, and he jumped from his bed. This movement roused all the others; and they went out into the waist, following the example of Scott, who wore nothing but his nightdress.

"I am going to have a swim this fine morning," said he.

"Look out for crocodiles," Morris interposed. "You know they are man-eaters in these rivers."

"I haven't seen any of them around here," replied the captain. "But call all hands, Lane; and tell the men to bring out their rifles."

"I think you are very imprudent to go into the water here," interposed Mr. Eng. "The reptiles are on the watch; and if you must go in, I warn you to keep near the boat."[93]

But the boys all dived from the gunwale into the river, and swam out a few rods. The men placed themselves on the rail, and kept a sharp look out for saurians, though it was still too dark to enable them to see very distinctly. Scott had reasoned that he could not take his bath after it was fully light, for a crowd of Dyak men and women would be on the bank at that time.

The swimmers had not been in the water more than five minutes when the cry of "Crocodiles!" came from Achang, who had stationed himself just forward of the engine. Probably he had a keener vision for the reptiles than the Americans; for the seamen had not yet seen anything that looked like one. He could tell by the appearance of the water that the enemy was approaching, though the disturbance of its surface was near the other side of the stream.

The party in the water turned about, and headed for the boat, swimming with all the vigor they could command. Achang had his rifle in his hand; but even he could not make out the crocodile clearly enough to be sure of his aim. Five minutes more elapsed; for it required that time for the swimmers to reach the yacht. The seamen assisted the party into the boat, and they rushed with all speed into the cabin; for a quartet of Dyak maidens had already reached the bank of the river, and were begging the men for more tobacco.

Achang fired his rifle; but three crocodiles could[94] now be seen moving towards the yacht. Their approach was not impeded by the shot, for it was impossible to see the eyes of the reptiles in the semi-darkness. But the cabin party were safe, and it was as useless to fire at them as it would have been at a stone wall.

"I advise you not to try that experiment again, young gentlemen," said Mr. Eng as the bathing party came out into the waist.

"I don't think we shall, though we were protected by half a dozen rifles," replied the captain, who had been the leader in the venturesome exploit.

"If you do try it again, do so in the daylight, when your riflemen can see the eyes of the enemy," added the agent. "I must bid you good-by now, for I have business on shore here. I don't think the crocodiles will come any nearer to you, but be prudent. I shall hope to see you at Simujan on your return."

Mr. Eng shook hands with all the cabin party, and went ashore. The captain gave the order to cast off the fasts, and Lane was ordered to take the wheel. The two sampans had before made fast to the shore; and as the Blanchita got under way, one of them put off, and paddled towards the crocodiles. The last that was seen of the craft, it had a saurian hooked after the Malay mode of fishing for them.

After breakfast had been served in the cabin, and the party had gone to their seats forward, the character of the river began to change, becoming much nar[95]rower. They came to another Dyak village, where the jungle was cleared off and paddies were near the stream. It looked as though all the inhabitants had gathered on the bank, male and female. A long-house was to be seen on a knoll, and the wheelman was ordered to take the boat within a couple of rods of the shore.

"Are you going to make a landing at this village, Captain Scott?" asked Louis.

"No; we have seen enough of these people, but we will see what we can as we pass along. They are all beckoning us to go ashore; but we won't do so, for any more Dyak maidens would be rather monotonous."

"I quite agree with you, Captain, though there is one with a big stick of bamboo in her hand, who looks more graceful and pretty than any we saw in the village we visited," replied Louis.

"I wonder what that cane is for," added Scott.

"That's to contain some kind of liquid; and she may have four feet of tuak in it," answered the millionaire, laughing at the idea of measuring a fluid by Long Measure. "I think the girl comes nearer to being a beauty than any girl I have seen before."

"She is hooped with brass like all the rest of them," added Scott, as the boat proceeded beyond the group on the shore.

In another half-hour great trees, with an abundant undergrowth of bushes, extended down to the river, and in places some distance into the water.[96]

CHAPTER XI STEAMBOATING THROUGH A GREAT FOREST

Although